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THE LIGHT OF LIFE 



OR, THE 



fee |te rf SM. 






" The true light, that lighteth every man." 

" In him was life, and the life was the light of men." 

•'I am the light of the world : he that followeth me 

Shall not walk in darkness, but shall have 

The light of life." 



BY 



N. S. SAXTON, M. D., 

GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN, L. I. 



Neto $ork: 

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 
FOR SALE AT 522 BROADWAY AND BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY. 

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The Library 
of Congress 

washington 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, 

By N. S. SAXTON, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for 

the Southern District of New York. 



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M. B. BROWN & CO., 
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201 & 203 William St., N. Y. 



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PREFACE 



The Author claims to have exhibited in this lit- 
tle volume a new and radical basis, connected with 
vital development, from which to enunciate the 
principles of human nature, and to improve the 
condition of human existence. That there is room 
for a work on such a subject, probably no one will 
deny ; for, after having improved so much in other 
matters, it is hoped that man may now improve 
himself. On a subject so radical and unapproach- 
able as this, a complete treatise will not be ex- 
pected ; hence to have errors detected will not 
disappoint the Author, but rather afford him pleas- 
ure and satisfaction. In language, he has aimed 
merely to express principles and sentiments in as 
brief and simple a manner as the nature of his sub- 
ject will permit. 



THE LIGHT OF LIFE. 



CHAPTER I. 

GOD AND LIFE. 



The Sacred Scriptures contain principles and 
doctrines which, when properly construed, form 
the elements of a great science — a science which 
exhibits a true idea of the relationship of man to 
his Maker, and of man to his fellow-creatures. It 
is from that science, and from these relationships, 
alone, that the great and available laws of human 
society can be obtained. 

The principal and leading theme of the inspired 
writers is, that man is prone to evil, and that evil, 
in some shape, is the cause of the sorrow and the 
bitterness — the fountain of those great burthens 
and oppressions which destroy the peace and hap- 
piness of society. These writers make many allu- 
sions to the terrible wickedness and corruptions 
which prevail among men, and to the many evils 
which constitute the bane of human happiness. 

Great and universal as these evils are, no rem- 
edy, hitherto discovered, has been efficiently suc- 
cessful in promoting that great reform whereby 



6 THE LIGHT OP LIFE; OB, 

mankind are induced to avoid evil, and seek that 
which is just and good. " As it is written : There 
is none righteous ; no, not one. There is none 
that undcrstandeth ; there is none that seek after 
God. They arc all gone out of the way ; they are 
together become unprofitable. There is none that 
doeth good ; no, not one." 

2. The inspired writers give us many graphic 
pictures of the terrible wickedness, corruptions, 
and abominations which prevail among mankind. 
That these pictures are correct and strictly true, 
no intelligent person has reason to doubt ; for 
daily observation in society confirms all that they 
have recorded, and every profane history incul- 
cates the same view of the human race. The ter- 
rible evils arising from an excessive love of wealth 
are desperate in the extreme, and are almost uni- 
versally witnessed wherever man exists. 

The history of these United States affords a very 
conspicuous example. 

The excessive love of wealth was the cause of 
introducing African slavery ; the profits arising 
therefrom lead to almost endless contentions on 
the subject of governing the nation, and the whole 
history of the American Congress abounds with 
contentions wherein slavery formed the chief point 
at issue. 

To trace the terrible calamities inflicted upon 
the people of the United States, in consequenee of 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 7 

the introduction of African slavery, requires a 
perusal of our whole history, including the war of 
the slaveholders' rebellion — probably the most 
desperate, cruel, and wicked war that ever oc- 
curred on the earth. 

All the wars and other great calamities arising 
from human contentions have usually sprung from 
a similar cause — that of the excessive love of 
wealth. 

3. That we may possess some efficient remedy 
for this universal weakness of mankind is certainly 
very desirable. If such a remedy could be ob- 
tained; and its application become generally un- 
derstood and appreciated, its value would exceed 
that of rubies, its price would surpass that of all 
other commodities. Probably no one will dissent 
from these ideas ; and yet the writers whom we 
regard as the standard of all justice and truth — 
the standard of piety and grace — have actually 
pointed out a great remedy. 

" Blessed are they that keep judgment : and he 
that doeth righteousness at all times. 

" Blessings are upon the head of the just. 

" The just man's children are blessed after 
him." 

And, lastly, the Saviour says : 

Math., xi. — 28 : " Come unto me, all ye that 
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you 
rest." 



8 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

But how am I to understand these promises and 
invitations ? Are those who profess to understand 
them, and claim to have complied with this invita- 
tion, any better off, or any happier, than I ? Here 
comes the great question : How am I to understand 
these promises an'd invitations ? 

In order to answer these questions intelligibly, 
I must first notice the premises upon which these 
promises and invitations are founded. The na- 
ture, power, and ability of the potentate who 
makes them, and the relative nature and condition 
of those who are to receive their fulfilment, con- 
stitute the essential premises of the whole subject. 

4. That these quotations express great and uni- 
versal truths will hardly admit of dispute ; for the 
works continually progressing in the spacious lab- 
oratory of creation abound with conspicuous ex- 
amples. 

But, like the laws of physical science, they must 
be understood before their truthfulness can be 
realized and appreciated. 

In approaching these matters, the first steps are 
to inquire into the nature of that invisible, omnip- 
otent, omniscient, and omnipresent Entity, who 
alone can bless or promise blessings. 

God is a Spirit, " invisible, unsearchable, eter- 
nal, and everlasting." 

" He is the living God, and steadfast forever. 
He liveth forever, whose dominion is everlasting, 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 9 

and his kingdom is from generation to genera- 
tion." 

He is omnipotent— "I am the Almighty God. 
« The Lord God omnipotent reigneth. All things 
are possible with him." 

He is omniscient—" He is perfect in knowledge. 
His understanding is infinite." 

He is omnipresent—" I am a God at hand. Do 
not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord. He 

filleth all in all." 

Hence God is a Spirit— invisible, almighty, all- 
wise, and everywhere present. 

It is declared that He fills all space, created all 
things, and sustains and upholds the entire uni- 
verse. 

Hence He is called the Creator, and it is said 
that « in Him we live, and move, and have our 

being." 

5. But the Scriptures contain declarations con- 
cerning the nature of God, which clearly maintain 
sentiments of a still deeper and more interesting 
character. 

They declare that God is life ! 

« He is thy life." 

« I am the resurrection and the life. I am the. 
way, the truth, and the life." 

« For whoso findeth me findeth life." 

« I am that bread of life. The spirit is the life 
given." 



10 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

" The spirit giveth life. The spirit is life." 

The word life, as here used, is not an adjunct- 
ive, but a substantive word, used to convey an 
■idea of the constituent material (so to speak) of 
which God's entity is formed. 

Hence the relationship between God and man, 
whereby God is called the Father, consists in this : 
-that God is the great fountain or ocean of life ; 
and the spirit of vitality in man — the breath of 
life which God breathed into his nostrils — is but 
a mere particle or atom thereof. " He asked 
life of thee, and thou gavest it him. He that hath 
ithe son hath life, and he that hath not the son of 
jGod hath not life. For with thee is the fountain 
of life." 

By the expression " God is life," I do not infer 
that he is identical with the life of the flesh and 
blood of our bodies ; but rather that he is an ac- 
tive, vital spirit, which, by acting on matter, de- 
velops the life of which we are here possessed. 

He is the great fountain of all vital existence, of 
all power, and of all intelligence. 

Heat, light, electricity, and life are but emana- 
tions from his entity, and but modified develop- 
ments whereby his existence is made manifest. 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL. 



CHAPTER n. 

MAN A CELL-SYSTEM. 

6. That we do exist, that we " live, and move, 
and have our being," is to us Jihe most signifi- 
cant of all things. Yet, in a mental point of 
view, that fact is only the commencement of in- 
quiry. TVe become anxious to know more. What 
is the nature of our existence? How was it 
brought about ? And for what purpose ? In- 
quiries of this kind must have occupied, to a greater 
or less degree, the mind of every human being. 
To answer such inquiries we can look only to God. 
He is the creator of all things. His works are the 
record of the whole matter, perfect and complete 
{his word being one of these works). If we read his 
works correctly, our queries will be answered, the 
problem of existence will be perfectly solved. 

How shall this be done ? How shall we com- 
mence? And how shall we know that we are 
proceeding correctly ? That it should be done, and 
done correctly, is a matter of great importance to 
the well-being of society. That the radical inter- 
pretation of that existence, that which lays at the 



12 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

basis of all human events, should be comprehended 
to a reasonable extent, is truly desirable. 

7. An inquiry into the nature of man — into the 
modus operandi whereby he was created — into the 
physical and vital processes which began and sus- 
tain his existence — is one of deep interest and great 
profit. 

The Scriptures, the works of creation, and the 
science of physiology are the only sources of in- 
formation available for that purpose. 

The Scriptures assert that the " Lord God 
formed the man of the dust of the ground, and 
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and 
the man became a living soul." 

There are substantial reasons to infer that the 
breath of life here mentioned is identical with the 
" Spirit of God which moved upon the face of the 
waters," with the u Spirit of life from God," and 
with that alluded to by Job, where he says " the 
Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the 
Almighty hath given me life." 

But from these and other kindred expressions, 
and also from the true import of existence, the in- 
ference becomes quite irresistible that this breath 
of life is God himself, and that this breath of life, 
this spirit of life from God, is the true spiritual 
essence of which God is constituted. 

This, I infer, must be so ; for life is spirit, and 
is derived from God, and God is the only sub- 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 13 

stantive spirit in the universe. To infer otherwise 
would be a rejection of the Scriptures ; for they 
declare that God is Almighty, fills all space, and is 
also a unit. No other substantive spirit can there- 
fore exist. 

This " breathing into his nostrils the breath of 
life " is a process which has never ceased since 
God put it into operation. 

It is the same process of breathing which, every 
living creature is now performing, and must con- 
tinue to perform until living development ceases 
to exist. In human beings it is performed about 
twenty times every minute. 

8. This " breathing into his nostrils the breath 
of life " seems to have produced a wonderful re- 
sult — that which we should expect from it in case 
the breath of life were God himself — that whereby 
" the man became a living soul." This breath of 
life, it seems, possessed a soul-generating power, 
the very power which God alone possesses. I shall 
therefore assume that this breath of life bears the 
same relation to God as a drop of water bears to 
the ocean. Hence, since God is life and spirit 
and the breath of life — and since breath of life, 
vital spirit, living principle, etc., are one and the 
same, I shall select one term, that of vital spirit, 
as a term representing God and all synonymous 
terms. 



14 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

I shall use that term in a general sense, without 
an effort at technical niceties. 

9. The vital spirit, and especially that function 
of it which develops material existence, requires 
our deepest investigation ; for to understand that 
function is to obtain the first great lesson in the 
science of human existence. 

The vital spirit seizes upon proper material, 
wields a plastic potency over its organization, and 
models it into the forms which compose the basis 
of living organic structures. 

What are these conditions of matter which are 
necessary in order that vital spirit may thus 
mould it to its plastic influences ? On this point, 
all observation, all experience, and all the opera- 
tions in Nature's laboratory promulgate one uni- 
form idea — an idea which the inspired writers ex- 
press as follows — " And the Lord God formed 
man of the dust of the ground." In another place 
they assert, " All are of the dust, and all turn to 
dust again." 

10. Matter, after being reduced to dust, must 
be brought to a fluid form, by solution in another 
material — that which is known as water — the 
whole forming a fluid mass. 

Hence, in a state of solution, at a proper degree 
of temperature, under the influence of the oxygen 
of the atmosphere, and within the influence of the 
vital spirit of an already vitalized texture ; matter 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 15 

becomes subjected to the influence of vital spirit, 
and puts on the form and the action of living or- 
ganic structures. 

It is only through this chain of conditions and 
circumstances, that inorganic matter, as far as hu- 
man observation may determine, ever becomes a 
part of the structure of living things. It is through 
this special vitalizing function, which forms the 
starting-point of every living thing, that animal 
and vegetable life assumes its place in creation. 
It is the biogenic function of organic life. The 
special utility of being reduced to dust, and brought 
to a fluid state, is somewhat illustrated by capil- 
lary tubes and spongy textures in their action on 
fluids. 

11. There is a special primary form which vital 
spirit imparts to matter through all the processes 
of the biogenic function ; it is that of a minute 
sphere, or spheroid, known in physiology by the 
name of simple cell. Viewed in its simple, indi- 
vidual state, it seems to be formed of delicate, 
nearly transparent membrane, not unlike a fine 
soap-bubble, lined with a scarcely solid substance 
in which the vitality is thought to reside. Yet 
this minute cell, in its wonderful simplicity, is cer- 
tainly the basis of which all living things are 
manufactured. 

It is the primary structure of all organic exist- 
ence. Anatomically, it is a mere sack contain- 



16 THE LIGHT OP LIFE; OR, 

ing a fluid, Physiologically, it is a stomach con- 
taining nutriment, with a mouth for the reception 
of food. In vital capacity, it performs the two 
great functions of organic life — those of nutrition 
and reproduction. The simple cell, however, is 
truly a wonderful being, possessed of greatness— 
not that of bulk, but of greatness of function ; 
for it is a living creature, formed of the dust of 
the ground, and a recipient of the breath of life. 
It is the elementary type of animal life, and forms 
the entire basis of all human powers and struct- 
ures, as well as those of animals and vegetables. 

12. Since both its function and its numerical 
extent are very great, the arrangement of cells 
for any living thing may be termed a cell-system. 
The material which forms the food of animals 
must first undergo the biogenic process, and there- 
by be converted into living cells, before it can serve 
the purpose of nutriment in the animal economy. 

After the material food has been converted into 
cells, it forms what, in connection with serum, is 
known under the name of blood. The blood is 
therefore a fluid alive with millions of living cells, 
propelled through the various parts and organs of 
the body for the purpose of nourishing every liv- 
ing fibre thereof ; and it is the living cells which 
are especially devoted to that great function. They 
are the living bread which sustains life. 

See 17th, 11th: "For the life of the flesh is in 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 17 

the blood." 14th : " For it is the life of all flesh 
— the blood of it is for the life thereof — for the 
life of all flesh is in the blood thereof." 

13. All parts of the animal or human body are 
formed of living cells, which have been gener- 
ated as above described, and floated through the 
system with the blood to the proper organs. The 
stomach and some other organs arc constantly em- 
ployed in the performance of the biogenic process 
by which the food is converted into living cells, 
and thus the great circuit of life advances. The 
material structure of every living thing, whether 
human, animal, or vegetable, is formed of simple 
cells, arranged into order and retained in proper 
position for the construction of fibres, textures, 
and membranes, by the masterly intelligence of 
vital spirit residing therein. 

When organic structures, so abudant and vast 
in extent, through the air, the ocean, and the 
earth, forming every organic substance on the 
globe, — such as the wood which is wrought into 
houses, ships, bridges, and carriages ; such as the 
fibres wrought into clothing, ropes, ship's sails, 
and tents ; such as form the material of insects, 
birds, fishes, and animals ; such as form the furs, 
silks, satins, and other robes of nobles, monarchs, 
and emperors ; and such as form the food of 
men and animals wherever they may exist, — be- 
come recognized as materials formed of these 



18 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OB, 

simple cells ; the mind of man is warned of its 
own insignificance, in comparison with the won- 
derful works of Providence. 

14. The cell-system not only forms the material 
structure of all vegetables and animals upon the 
earth, but the seeds, eggs, germs, and embryos 
which constitute the starting-point of all new be- 
ings about to be developed, are formed by an ar- 
rangement anew of simple living cells, which have 
been previously generated by the organs of the 
parent body. All vegetables are propagated by 
seeds, and all animals by eggs, which seeds and 
eggs are developed within the parent body by a 
new arrangement of the living cells generated 
within such parent body. 

Such cells form part and parcel of the parent, 
or rather of the fluids circulating therein, until 
matured up to that point of development which I 
have elsewhere termed a seminal organization (Sec- 
tion 50). That point of development constituting 
all that is necessary for the object intended, sepa- 
ration from the parent body there takes place in 
some instances, while in others a change is ef- 
fected to another organ designed for maturing the 
young. 

All this process is brought about by a function 
of the parent body, from living cells of the parent 
body ; but the result is the seed, egg, or germ of a 
new body. 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 19 

The vital spirit which is transmitted from the 
parent to the offspring is an emanating ray of life 
from the parent. 

New matter succeeds the old, new cells are gen- 
erated to take the place of the old cells ; the 
change of material is constant, but the vital spirit 
of the offspring is in all important points identical 
with that of the parent. 

Such is life, and such is the mode of its progress 
towards the destined end and aim. The new mat- 
ter is introduced as food ; the sensation of hunger 
created for the purpose impels to its reception. 
The old matter, having served the soul for a sea- 
son, is crowded away by new and more vigorous 
cells, and escapes as excrement. 

15. This biogenic function has no existence in 
material things outside of the cell-system ; it is the 
great specific function of that system, and that 
system is the great specific result of that function. 
The function and the system coincide, reciprocate, 
and exist together as a unity. That function is a 
primary development flowing from the action of 
vital spirit on matter. 

The cell-system may be regarded as a living 
fluid, of which the sap of plants and the blood of 
animals are examples. Tt is the fluid which sus- 
tains and develops vital phenomena : — its flow 
through a man generates his life, its flow into a new 
centre of material generates offspring. This bio- 



20 THE LIGHT OP LIFE; OR, 

genie process commenced at the beginning of the 
race, when " the man Adam became a living soul." 
From that period onward its vital existence has 
never ceased: its career has been an unceasing 
development of life through matter — its progress 
has been coeval with heat, light, and electricity, 
and with the movement of the heavenly spheres 
through space. 

16. One of the most instructive results of the 
biogenic function of the cell-system is that of re- 
production, as exhibited in the progressive develop- 
ment of plants and animals. The simple cell it- 
self, minute as it is, and as insignificant as it may 
appear, is a living creature, and is propogated like 
other animalculi. 

But in plants and animals every distinct part is 
a specific organic arrangement of simple cells, 
brought to its proper form and sphere by means of 
an intelligence and design greatly surpassing all 
the powers of mind. 

Every stage of organic development, from the 
simple cell upwards, exhibits its corresponding 
degree of intelligence ; and every part, organ, or 
member is formed of cells, all modeled and ar- 
ranged according to a fixed pattern. 

Hence every distinct plant yields its specific 
seed, and every animal its appropriate egg, for the 
germ of a new generation. 

17. It is upon this principle that animals de- 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL. 21 

velop distinct organs for each separate function 
required. 

Each organ is to some degree a separate engine, 
doing its special work, while the power which 
moves them and the intelligence which guides 
them are common to all. The vital spirit is the 
fountain of at least three great faculties, all coop- 
erating together as one single influence. 

They are the necessity which creates the demand, 
the intelligence which controls, and the power 
which advances in the action, all acting^ as one. 

Hence, to need or require the influence of a 
function impels the vital spirit to demand, to cre- 
ate, and to control the organ designed to perform 
such a function. In accordance with this principle, 
skin, hair, horn, mucous-membrane, muscle, bone, 
etc., grow just where they are needed, and no- 
where else. Each organ, texture, and membrane 
is found to have been created just where it is re- 
quired by the vital spirit, and to fulfil the purpose 
for which it is created. And why is this so ? Be- 
cause the want generates the influence which cre- 
ates them. Hence the answer to real prayer, 
which is only a real want pressingly felt. 

18. Such are the ruling impulses of the vital 
spirit, that the parts, limbs, organs, etc., become 
created as members of the body just as they are 
needed for the execution of their work. So nicely 
and accurately is this principle adjusted as a ruling 



22 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

agency of animal economy, that preparation for 
future functions often appears many years in ad- 
vance of the function itself. This is particularly 
the case with the sexual organs and functions. 

Almost at the first appearance of the embryo, 
preparations for the organs of sex become devel- 
oped. The more important the function, the more 
certain and constant is the development of the 
organ for its execution. Hence no living creature 
fails in the development of the reproductive or- 
gans. The chief vital processes of all living things 
bear a close resemblance to the reproductive fa- 
culty ; for the replacement of new material to sup- 
ply the place of that which has become 'exhausted 
is tr.uly a process of reproduction. 

The material of an organ to-day, becomes worn 
out in a few days, and new material has taken the 
place of the old. This is the great function which 
nutrition is intended to supply. 

19. Now, the same vital impulse which restores 
and renovates the organs of the body, generates an 
ovum or seminal product when controlled by a 
different design — the former process for the service 
of the present being, the latter for the germ of 
another generation. 

In both cases the great ultimate object is nearly 
the same, since both are intended for the purpose 
of extending existence farther into future time. 
That of restoring and renovating organic struc- 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL. 23 

tares is for the present being only ; the other, 
-which generates an ovum, etc., is intended for a 
new being, which may continue still further into 
a future period. 

Or, in other words, the nutritive process by 
which mere present organs are restored in the 
person of a living creature is identically the same 
as when an organ is generated for the purpose of 
becoming detached from the parent body, to as- 
sume a separate existence — no difference takes 
place up to the detachment of the new part. 

20. Luckily for teachers and writers on this sub- 
ject, the function of reproduction, in all grades of 
living creatures, is performed by a series of opera- 
tions essentially the same in all ; so that a descrip- 
tion of the process as performed in one, contains 
all the important features of the function as per- 
formed in the whole. 

The living cells of the blood are devoted, not 
to the restoration of an organ of the parent body 
proper, but to a sort of bud growing upon an 
organ of the parent body, which is destined to be 
detached therefrom as soon as sufficiently mature 
to maintain a separate existence, distinct from the 
parent. 

That bud, or ovum (as the case may be), grows 
and enlarges by the accession of living cells from 
the blood of the parent. It thus grows and 
increases, assuming more and more the shape of 



24 THE LIGHT OP LIFE ; OR, 

the parent, because it is shaped by the same vital 
spirit, and "with the same system of cells : thus 
growing as if it were really a part of the parent 
body. 

As its parts and organs become matured, it 
gradually loses its connection with the parent, 
and sets out upon the voyage of life for itself. 

21. The new being, at the start, is wholly formed 
of living cells from the blood of the parent. The 
living cells have been generated in the blood of 
the parent, floated from the old body info a mass, 
which forms the ovum or bud. In the new being, 
which for a season remains a part of the parent 
body, the same process of vital action is going on 
as that within the parent body, carried on by the 
vital spirit which resides in the parent. Hence 
the new or young being is neither new, nor a re- 
production of the parent, in any other sense than 
that the parent was produced in the same manner, 
and from an exactly similar commencement. Nor 
is the process essentially different from that of the 
reproduction of parts in the healing of a wound, 
in the process of growth, or in the restorations 
by which an exhausted state of the body is re- 
lieved. 

22. From all this, it appears that the term repro- 
duction is not strictly expressive of the real pro- 
cess ; for the vital spirit and the cells employed at 
the commencement are not strictly reproduced^ 



THE TEUE IDEA OF SOUL. 25 

but continued from the parent to the offspring. 
The vital process is the same through all of the 
operation ; nothing is reproduced or renewed, but 
continued or extended. 

This process of the vital spirit forms the basis 
of all vital development upon the earth. 

When and where this wonderful process began, 
when and where it will end, forms a problem as 
much above and beyond the abilities of man as the 
boundaries of the universe. 

The cell-system exhibits a continuous develop- 
ment of living forms : it has lived without ceasing 
from its commencement to the present time; 
it has continued from period to period, from 
generation to generation, from century to century, 
and its end is not at hand ; it is a living emana- 
tion from God, performing a great function in 
matter. 

23. The action of the vital spirit on matter con- 
stitutes a function which is controlled by an intel- 
ligence of the highest order ; it is an intelligence 
belonging to the spirit which animates the cell- 
system. The mind is a concentration of certain 
rays of that intelligence appropriated to the speci- 
fic purpose of serving as pilot to the whole per- 
son. It acts through material agencies, which we 
call organs of sense, and in certain capacities 
which we call senses, impressions, and impulses. 

The mind is an agent of intelligence, adapted 
2 



ZO THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

to a state of material things, circumscribed and 
modified by a material outline of senses and sensa- 
tions. It is principally occupied in devising means 
for self-preservation, through, the great demands 
of hunger and sexual impulse, which form sensi- 
tive appeals from the vital spirit, for the supplies 
required by the organic conditions. 

Sensation is a function of the vital spirit. It 
is therefore the vital spirit residing in the cell- 
system which executes the feeling, the demanding, 
and the designing, for the purpose of sustaining 
the cell-system. 

24. Thus far, I have occupied myself by describ- 
ing certain instructive operations in nature, which 
the vital spirit performs on matter at the fountain 
of human existence. 

I cannot, however, contemplate these beautiful 
operations without feeling the irresistible force of 
that christian philosophy which they breath into my 
soul. 

To me they seem to be the manifestations of a 
mute father teaching his children, by his actions 
and examples, the great and sublime lessons which 
he designs for our good. If I may call the Scrip- 
tures a direct inspiration, these lessons I claim to 
have been inspired by a common inspiration, with 
which we should be most deeply interested. To 
read these things correctly is a matter of wonder- 
ful value to the human family ; for, when once cor- 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 27 

rectly interpreted, they form the sure guides to 
truth and happiness for all future generations. If, 
however, my effort proves a failure, I have the 
great consolation, that the original remains undis- 
turbed, for all future efforts at interpretation. 
However much persons may differ on the subject 
of these interpretations, still the great fact is unal- 
tered, and unalterable, that great truths may there 
be learned. 

25. To read these lessons, and to read them with 
the greatest care and attention, is clearly the duty 
of every person ; for the sentiments which they 
convey are from God, and must, therefore, be cor- 
rect, provided we read them correctly. 

The commencement of learning to read them is 
often very tedious and laborious, as indeed the 
commencement of learning new lessons generally 
is ; but there is one encouraging feature always at 
hand : it is the fact that every step which is accom- 
plished adds facility to the ease with which the 
next step may be taken. 

It is from this source that good men in all ages 
of the world have learned much of that philosophy 
which has rendered them wise and prudent. 

26. Through what forms, and by what means, 
does the vital spirit impart its powers to material 
things? 

Answer : Through the forms of a simple cell, 
and by the means of a system of cells which de- 



28 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

velop successive generations. The simple cell, and 
its development into a system of cells, forms the 
great foundation of every vital phenomenon on the 
face of the earth. 

From this view of the basis and origin of the 
organic creation, how are we to account for the 
variety and modifications of living things which 
abound so lavishly around us ? Let these inquiries 
be answered by the voice of inspiration. " And 
God said let the earth bring forth grass, the herb 
yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit, 
after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth. 
And God created great whales, and every living 
tiling that moveth, which the waters brought forth 
abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl 
after his kind. 

"And God said let the earth bring forth the 
living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping 
thing, and beasts of the earth after his kind." 

Hence every living thing was created to live 
and move, and make progress after his kind, and 
whose seed is in itself on the earth. 

27. The expression that God created every 
living thing after its kind, and whose seed is in 
itself, to my mind conveys the significant import 
that every living thing was so created that each 
would always remain separate and distinct from 
all others — complete within itself — to the end of 
time. It may well be assumed that this object was 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 29 

brought about by means which were perfect in 
themselves, for such is the method of the Creator. 

God himself was the power which operated on 
matter, and the creation of a cell-system was the 
first step. That cell-system was different and dis- 
tinct for each separate living creature ; or, in other 
words, each was created after its kind, and its seed 
was within itself. As might be expected in the 
creation of so great a multitude of different living 
things, a great diversity of faculties, powers, and 
abilities are found to exist. The grasses, the herbs, 
and other vegetable entities possess no power of 
motion, feeling, seeing, or hearing; while at the 
other end of the great scale of living creatures 
stands man, endowed with a high order of senses, 
the power of motion, and the great faculties of 
thinking and reasoning. By the means of our 
ordinary senses we recognize in him what is known 
as his body and his mind. 

From the accounts of the inspired writers, we 
give the name spirit to that living principle which 
God imparted to man at his creation, and which 
forms the starting-point in the development of 
human life. 



30 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OB, 



CHAPTER III. 

THE CELL-SYSTEM A SOtJL. 

28. By the voice of inspiration, and by the com- 
mon consent of mankind, there is in man a certain 
something which is called the soul. 

In the Scriptures, it is represented as by far the 
most important part of man, and as the active and 
guilty agent of sinful transgression, and as the 
part which suffers the penalties of iniquity. 

It is there regarded as capable of immortality, 
but the idea that it may die is also recorded. 
Hence, in the estimation of theologians, there is 
nothing in man which will bear any comparison in 
importance with the soul. 

But what that part of man is, which is called the 
soul, seems not to have been satisfactorily settled ; 
and in absence of conclusive evidence on that point, 
theories of a vague and fanciful nature have long 
perplexed the ablest men. 

In different countries, and at different times, a 
variety of theories has prevailed There is one 
which is attributed to Aristotle, that has hitherto 
long subverted all others. 

29. This theory is very simple, and to the un- 






THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 31 

thinking carnal mind it seems very plausible. 
Briefly expressed, that theory maintains that man 
consists of but two parts — mind and matter, or 
soul and body; and, therefore, that the soul is 
identical with the mind. 

Whether true or false, it has subverted all other 
views for many centuries, and is now the prevail- 
ing sentiment of the christain world. All transla- 
tions of the Scriptures seem to have been rendered 
in accordance with that hypothesis. These things 
might seem strange indeed, were it not for the 
well-known fact, that man has never faithfully 
studied himself. 

But the folly of that theory, and its pernicious 
influence over the human family, will be duly con- 
sidered in their proper places. 

Since, among christian nations, these fashionable 
ideas of the soul are all regarded as sentiments 
derived authentically from the Scriptures, I pro- 
pose to take special notice of what is said in the 
Scriptures on that subject. 

We there read (Gen. ii., 7), "And the Lord 
God formed the man of the dust of the ground — 
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life — 
and the man became a living soul." 

30. " And breathed into his nostrils the breath 
of life." This having been performed by the su- 
preme Creator, who is in a spiritual state of ex- 
istence, it is not to be presumed that the word 



32 THE LIGHT OP LIFE; OB, 

" breathed " should be understood in a literal 
sense, as if it were the act of a corporeal being, 
but rather as the expression of an act by which 
the breath of lives was imparted in any way what- 
ever. 

The import of the phrase " breath of lives" was 
fully considered at Section 7. 

The word " nostrils" maybe understood in a 
literal sense, as expressive of the air-passages of 
the human face, or it may be understood os any 
pore, passage, or other receptacle, whereby the 
breath of life is imparted. Hence the whole 
expression, " breathed into his nostrils the breath 
of lives," should be understood in the very gen- 
eral sense which might be expressed thus : God 
imparted life to the man, whereby he became liv- 
ing flesh and blood, such as we feel and see in our- 
selves and others. It was the same process which 
we now see going on, and which we experience in 
our own persons, and by which we live and move 
and have our being. God is continually doing 
the same act to every breathing creature. 

Every expression which implies that our life is 
derived from God, and that we are wholly depend- 
ent on him for life and breath and existence, is 
synonymous with the above. God is life, and we 
are but sparks from that great fountain. 

31. This breath of life must necessarily be that 
essence or spirit of which God is constituted. 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 33 

This vital spirit seems to be an agent of un- 
limited power. It seems to be God himself, as I 
have elsewhere defined it. It is the spirit which 
fills infinite space, wields the vast operations of 
the universe, darts forth in fiery lightnings, con- 
geals the waters into mountains of ice, smiles with 
the benign light of the heavens, and frowns with 
the rude blasts of the wintry tempests. It is the 
spirit which 

" Warms in the sun, refreshes in the breeze, 
Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees, 
Lives through all life, extends through all extent, 
Spreads undivided, and operates unspent." 

In nature, it seems to perform the part of a simple 
power, like that of steam on machinery. Steam 
is made to fulfil many different purposes by means 
of different mechanical contrivances. 

And so with vital spirit. When operating upon 
one sort of cells, it generates a violet ; upon an- 
other, it generates the beautiful magnolia ; upon a 
third, it begets a monkey ; upon a fourth, a man ; 
while upon a fifth it begets an elephant. Hence 
the endless variety of living plants and animals. 

32. Each has its basis in the system of simple 
cells, which were created at the beginning, and 
continue the same throughout by the vital spirits 
acting thereon as a simple power common to all. 
Again, to continue the analogy, steam performs 
its functions upon the machine, and quickly re- 
turns to its aqueous state and to the great ocean 
from which it was 'derived, as . pure as ever, un- 
2* 



34 THE LIGHT OP LIFE ; OR, 

touched by any mischief which the machine may 
have done. So it is with vital spirit. It enters into 
its operations on matter, performs the vital func- 
tion of developing animated nature, and returns 
to God, who gave it, untainted by anything which 
has happened. Spirit is not identical with soul ; 
for it entered into the material body, performed 
a function therein, and generated a living soul as 
the result. Moreover, the Scriptures employ ex- 
pressions wherein soul and spirit appear as sepa- 
rate and distinct parts of the same person. "I 
pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be 
preserved blameless." " Dividing asunder of soul 
and spirit." 

Spirit is eternal ; soul only immortal. 

33. " And the man became a living soul." 

This expression is simple, direct, and literal, and 
conveys a very distinct and emphatic idea, viz., 
that the vital spirit, or breath of life, which had 
just been imparted to the lifeless material, had 
taken its destined effect thereon ;. had developed 
organic vital phenomena in the matter, whereby 
the man moved and breathed and came forth a liv- 
ing soul. The idea is clear and definite ; and the 
result bears the impress of having been derived 
from Almighty power. 

The Hebrew phrase, which is here rendered liv- 
ing soul, should not be passed over without re- 
marks. 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL. 35 

34. Nepkesh Chaiyah is the Hebrew phrase, which 
the translators have rendered living soul. In the 
Scriptures this phrase occurs thirteen times, — 
twelve of which apply to animals of the brute 
kind. In these twelve examples they have uni- 
formly rendered it living creature, or other ex- 
pressions of the same import — a translation in 
strict accordance with the literal meaning. 

But, in Gen., ii., 7, where it applies exclusive- 
ly to man, the translators have rendered it " liv- 
ing soul," as if the inspired writer had really in- 
tended something different in that instance. But 
no such difference is to be found in the language 
itself — the difference existed only in the minds of 
the translators : it was there in the form of Aris- 
totle's theory of the soul. 

35. In seeking the intentions of the inspired wri- 
ters, the import of the terms which they have used 
to express those intentions necessarily became a 
point of the first importance ; for to assume that 
they did not use proper terms, or that they did 
not use these terms in a proper manner, would be 
in effect an entire rejection of inspiration. Ne- 
phesh is the only Hebrew term which is rendered 
soul by the translators. 

This term, as all lexicographers agree, signifies 
breath or air in motion ; that which is significant 
of life. 

Says Bush, it is not to be questioned that the 



36 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

radical import of this word is breath, as a visible 
indication of life. 

Indeed, the word seems to have "been derived 
from the sound of the process of breathing — a 
sound which is always rendered audible by labor- 
ious respirations. Hence, the only terms of the 
Scriptures, which are ever rendered soul, are words 
literally conveying the idea of life. 

The Greek pysche, as used in the Septuagint 
and the New Testament, coincides very exactly in 
meaning with the Hebrew. 

36. The word Nephesh occurs in the Hebrew 
Scriptures about six hundred and seventy times, 
and is rendered soul in the English Bible about 
four hundred times. 

The import of the word soul, however, as it is 
used, in the Scriptures, is quite various. In many 
places it conveys an idea of bodily appetites and 
desires, sensual affections, etc. In a number of 
places it is used as a substitute of person or self. 
In some places strong doubts are entertained 
whether the translation should be soul or life. 
Not only so, but very good men have doubted 
whether the word Nephesh anywhere conveys the 
true idea of the soul of man. For example, Park- 
hurst remarks : " As a noun, Nephesh has been 
supposed to signify the spiritual part of man, or 
what we commonly call his soul. I must for my- 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 37 

self confess, that I can find no passage where it 
hath undoubtedly this meaning." 

(Parkhurst's Hebrew Lexicon — Nephesh.) 

Is this idea of Parkhurst true, or did he have 
his mind perverted by the theory of Aristotle ? 

If true, then we have no knowledge of a soul ; 
for Parkhurst's future state is a spiritual state 
only. 

37. The manner in which the inspired writers 
speak of the soul is worthy of grave attention, and 
must always present a hard dilemma to those who 
cling to the theory of Aristotle. 

Gen., xii., 12 : " My soul shall live because of 
them." 

Ezck., xviii., 4: "The soul that sinneth shall 
die." 

Gen., xxxiv., 3 : "And his soul cleave unto 
Dinah." 

Gen., xxxiv., 8 : " The soul of my son Shechem 
longeth for your daughter ; I pray you give her 
him to wife." 

Gen., xii., 5 : " And the souls they had gotten in 
Haran." 

Do the above expressions apply to the mind of 
man? 

Again, it is a received sentiment of the chris- 
tian doctrines, that man alone is possessed of soul, 
and that brutes are quite destitute of any such 
principle. 



38 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

The Scriptures, however, convey quite a differ- 
ent idea — thus : 

Job, xii., 10 : " In whose hands is the soul of 
every living thing, and the breath of all man- 
kind." 

Num., xxxi., 28 : " The souls of persons, of 
beeves, of asses, and of sheep " are here spoken of. 

Psa., lxxiv., 19 : « The soul of thy turtle-dove." 

38. Hence it appears very plain that Aristotle's 
theory of the soul cannot be maintained by any 
authority of the Scriptures. 

Not a clause can be found to that effect ; but, 
on the contrary, almost every expression of the 
Scriptures on the subject of the soul tends towards 
a refutation of that idea. In one passage the two 
are clearly represented as separate and distinct 
parts of the human being. 

Mat., xxii., 37: "Thou shalt love the Lord 
thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
and with all thy mind." 

There is a deep and serious presentiment in the 
human family, that ourselves and our souls are 
entities of a near and dear relationship, and that 
the happiness or unhappiness of the human family 
is deeply involved in gaining a substantial know- 
ledge of the soul. Superficial theories and arbi- 
trary dogmas are rather tantalizing than satisfac- 
tory. 

39. Whoever will read the Scriptures, with an 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 39 

honest intention of obtaining the truths which are 
inculcated therein, will probably discover senti- 
ments on the subject of the soul which coincide 
with the laws of corporeal existence. They will 
perceive that God imparted a vital spark to man 
at his creation, and that vital action resulted 
therefrom ; such as we continually witness in man 
as forming the basis of his existence. 

At the very starting-point of human existence 
stands the biogenic function of the cell-system, a 
result flowing from the action of vital spirit in 
matter. 

To this primary function, or to the cell-system 
immediately resulting therefrom, the inspired 
writers give the name of nephesh — a word simply 
expressive of life, and expressing what they under- 
stand to have taken place. 

This idea was all correct, for it was a develop- 
ment of life, just as we now feel and experience 
it in the flesh. The Scriptures make no distinc- 
tion between life and soul, yet such a distinction 
does certainly exist. 

40. Whenever the vital spirit takes matter 
under its control, for the purpose of fabricating 
it into organic structures, the matter is quickly 
brought to a specific form — that of a simple cell. 
(Sections 11, 12, 13.) 

This is the radical point of the biogenic pro- 



40 THE LIGHT OP LIFE ; OR, 

cess. It is the point where vital spirit assumes 
the mastery, and the cell-formation is developed. 

Hence there is a development of cells and of 
life taking place at the same instant, each form- 
ing different manifestations of one and the same 
process. 

In naming such a process, nothing could be 
more in accordance with the usual proceedings of 
men, than for some to call it a life-generating, and 
others a cell-generating process. This I take to 
have been the origin of the names now employed 
to represent that immortal part of man which we 
call ncphesh, or soul, or cell-system. 

Outside of the vital spirit, which is imparted 
from God himself, there is nothing in organic life 
bearing an appearance of immortality, except the 
cell-system. That has never ceased to live from 
the time of its creation to the present. 

41. Taking this view of the subject, the great 
cell-system, which vital spirit* generates in its 
action on matter, would be represented among the 
Hebrews as nephesh, and among the Greeks as 
psyche, because it is the development of life. 

But nations do not all act alike, think alike, or 
look alike ; neither do they name things from the 
same standpoint of observation. Some would 
name according to what they take to be the es- 
sential principle ; others would be guided by es- 
sential forms. While the Hebrews might name 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL. 41 

the cell-system by the word nephesh, from the fact 
of its being a development of life, the nations of 
Teutonic origin might as readily name it ziel, seek, 
or saul, from the fact of its being a development 
of vital cells. 

I claim, therefore, that there is nothing improb- 
able in the idea that the words soul and cell have 
had a common origin. A comparison of the two 
words, as they occur in several kindred languages, 
corroborate that idea. 

Thus, for soul we have, id the Swedish, sial ; 
Danish, siel ; Dutch or Belgic, ziel ; German, 
seele ; Saxon, soul or saul. 

42. From these premises, it follows that the 
radical idea of the word soul, is cell or cell-system. 
It also implies foundation or basis, from the cir- 
cumstance that the cell-system is the foundation 
or basis of the organic development of life. 

But, in the use of language, it is nothing un- 
usual for effects to receive the name of causes ; and 
on that principle it is usual to apply the name soul 
to the whole person and to the mind. Soul is 
sometimes used in an aggregate sense, meaning 
the whole human race — as the human soul, the soul 
of man, etc. 

Hence the only sphere of human life, based 
upon the soul as a foundation of existence, or 
wherein soul is the chief elementary part of man, 



42 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

is that of the bodily state — that state wherein 
Adam became a living soul. 

Hence, at death, the soul of an individual, esti- 
mated in the light of the prevailing individualism, 
ceases to be soul, and becomes spirit. 

The future state of an individual is, therefore, 
spiritual only. 

43. At this point the reader may assert, and 
that, too, with some show of reason, that 1 am ad- 
vancing radical ideas of a very sweeping nature 
before their correctness is clearly established. Be 
it so : my excuse is ample. The subject is one the 
correctness or incorrectness of which cannot be 
clearly established, a 'priori, by any means within 
the capacity of man. 

But the ideas advanced are clearly coincident 
with those of the inspired writers. 

They place the soul where it belongs, at the 
basis of vital development. 

They place all the immortality which is known 
to exist (other than that of vital spirit), within the 
soul (14, 15, 20, 21). 

They represent all the transmissions from pa- 
rent to offspring as arising from the soul (47). 

They represent the transmissions and the pun- 
ishments of guilt as following up the soul (48, 
49). 

These ideas represent man to be just what expe- 
rience teaches us to be true. 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 43 

Moreover, these ideas place our own natures 
clearly before our own faces, as if it were in a 
mirror. 

They teach every man the true relationship 
which he bears to the race, and to his God. 

They teach us the true origin of all our facul- 
ties and defects, and the true means for human 
improvements. 

These facts I shall now proceed to show. The 
proof of the correctness of these views depends 
more upon what follows than what has preceded, 
just as results prove what is correct with more 
certainty than premises. 

44. According to this view, the soul, or cell- 
system, forms the basis of every living thing. It 
is the basis of that great operation in nature 
whereby the " earth brings forth grass, the herb 
yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit af- 
ter its kind, whose seed is in itself upon the 
earth." These peculiar expressions are very sig- 
nificant and specific. 

They convey an emphatic implication that every 
living thing possesses a soul, or cell-system, dis- 
tinct from all others, peculiar to itself, and after 
its kind, which is the same through endless gener- 
ations. Upon the earth seems to imply that the 
cell-system is based upon a material foundation, 
and therefore must have its abode upon the earth. 

45. Every expression of the inspired writers 



44 THE LIGHT OP LIFE; OR, 

associated with Nephesh, whether rendered soul 
or life, becomes rational when viewed in the light 
of this idea of soul, and many of them become non- 
sense if viewed in any other. Tiiis is peculiarly 
the case with the language used in Lev., xvii. : 
11th and 14th (Sec. 12). In this light the soul 
may live, or it may die ; and, being used as a repre- 
sentative of the person, there is no impropriety in 
attributing animal propensities to it. 

In this view, the soul of offspring is begotten by 
parents ; for offspring is but an exuberant bud from 
the soul and body of the parent — the continuation 
of a current flowing from the great fountain. 

48. Taking this view of man, and of the great 
principle within him which we call his soul, pre- 
sents a train of ideas very new and important to 
the welfare of the human race. 

Among them the following are somewhat prom- 
inent : 

1st. The great primary functions of all living 
things, whether vegetable or animal, consist en- 
tirely of developments of the cell-system. 

2d. If the cell-system be not the soul, then its 
importance as a basis of all living development is 
far greater than the soul. 

3d. All the sentiments expressed by the inspired 
writers, concerning the nature of the soul, are true 
of the cell-system ; but not true of any other ele- 
mentary part of man. 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 45 

4th. The import of the words ntphesh, psyche, 
soul, etc., is strictly correct when applied to the 
cell-system, as expressive of the life, the form, and 
the position which that system embodies. These 
words do not seem to apply to the characteristics 
of anything else in man. 

47. It is the cell-system which performs the 
great functions of transmitting principles and fac- 
ulties from parent to offspring. 

Living cells are the biogenic elements which all 
offspring receive from parents. Every particle 
transmitted to offspring is composed of living cells, 
highly charged with vital spirit, and in a state of 
psychogenic activity. These transmissions convey 
along with them, the accumulated impressions 
which the parents have received through life. 
The influence of climate on plants is a familiar ex- 
ample of such a principle. Seeds from plants ac- 
customed to short summers will grow and mature 
in less time than others. This fact involves a 
principle which modifies the characteristics of 
every living thing, whether vegetable or animal, 
to an extent of great amplitude. Every trait and 
power of the body, and every faculty of the mind 
of man, may be modified very greatly in this way. 
If the tendency from this source is in the direction 
of good, and towards improvement, it inclines the 
cell-system (whether soul or not) in the path 
which leads towards the strait gate. Math., vii. : 



46 THE LIGHT OP LIFE ; OR, 

13th — " Enter ye in at the strait gate : for wide 
is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to 
destruction." 

The gate here mentioned by the inspired writer 
I regard as the principle of the cell-system above 
alluded to. Every human being is continually in- 
fluenced by that principle, in one or the other di- 
rection, and the result of that influence is eitLer 
salvation or destruction, according to the course 
pursued. 

This principle may be termed the sensitive face 
of the soul. 

Regardless of anything said here or in the 
Scriptures, common observation in the daily walks 
of life demonstrates this principle to be true. Let 
us take for example a man given to strong drink. 
His first drams inclined the cell-system for more 
of the same impression ; each succeeding dram 
adds thereto, and hence he moves on towards de- 
struction, until the end is reached. 

The principle here involved might be amplified 
into volumes of useful inquiry, but I can only 
point out and illustrate the principle. 

48. It is upon this principle that evil habits of 
every kind, transmitted from parents to offspring, 
become fountains of evil and misery to future gen- 
erations. Such influences, when of an evil nature, 
often become augmented as they descend from 
generation to generation, thereby becoming so in- 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 47 

tense as to prove destructive to all those who in- 
herit them. That soul, therefore, is cast into the 
pit, and is cut off from among its people. In this 
process the cell-system — that which I call the soul — 
is the polluted fountain ; it is also the victim. 

If cell-system be the soul, then it is true, as 
taught in the Scriptures, that thoughts, designs, 
and intentions make the same impression on the 
soul as actual transactions. 

Hence the value of prayer, if it be in spirit ; 
and hence we see the folly of that prayer which 
proceedeth only from the lips, and maketh no im- 
pression upon the cell-system (Section 17). 

49. Taking this view of the soul places us upon 
an eminence from which the great field of human 
nature may be scrutinized from end to end, and 
with any degree of nicety. From this view the 
condition of mankind presents just that aspect 
which my philosophy, as taught in this treatise, 
would lead one to expect. It is a philosophy 
drawn from the works of God, and agreeing with 
the word of God. 

It presents man with the cell-system for a basis 
of operations, which flows onward like the waters 
of a river: the stains and other pollutions which 
affect the cell-system at any point pass on with the 
cells as if they were the particles of water. 

At a short distance below, the clear and pol- 
luted cells commingle together, so that all partake 



48 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

of the pollution. Hence it is the interest of all 
that no cause of pollution be allowed, and that all 
motive of evil be removed. 

No matter what way the river of the cell-system 
becomes affected, all who form parts of that stream 
sooner or later feel the affection. 

Now, this cell-system or soul is not mind, but a 
fountain from which both mind, and body flow, as 
the waters of a river from its fountain. 

The cell-system does indeed constitute a great 
fountain, from which there is continually flowing a 
vast, immeasurable river of life. 

50. The cell-system presents different degrees 
of development. 

1st. It presents the simple cell, or primary form 
of development. In animal life it occurs mostly 
in the blood. " For the life (nephesh) of the flesh 
is in the blood." 

This is the elementary form of soul. 

2d. It presents the simple cells reconstructed 
into seeds, eggs, etc. 

This may be called the germinal form, because it 
is developed to that degree which constitutes the 
nucleus of future generations. 

3d. It here presents the adult or mature state 
of development, wherein the individual is complete 
with all the properties of the race. In man, this 
form of existence presents the senses and other 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 49 

faculties. The senses appear as internal and ex- 
ternal. 

The internal senses are : 

1st. The sense of nutrition — a feeling of vigor 
and support from nutriment in the stomach. 

2d. The sense of lasciviousness or sexual im- 
pulse. 

3d. Mental perception. 

The external senses are : 

Seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting, and smelling. 

51. At this point of my subject, it may not be 
amiss to inquire, What becomes of departed spirits ? 

God being a unit and filling all conceivable 
space, what is to be understood by the expression, 
" and the spirit shall return unto God, who gave 
it" ? 

At the commencement of this inquiry it must be 
borne in mind, that, even while here in the flesh, 
" it is in him we live and move and have our 
being." And it is from such a state of intimate 
relation that the " spirit shall return unto God, 
who gave it." 

Taking these passages into consideration, I can- 
not avoid the conclusion that returning unto God 
must be understood as reuniting with God, and 
becoming a part of his spiritual entity. 

It must therefore be inferred that they partake 
of his knowledge and wisdom, and that they re- 
3 



50 THE LIGHT OF LIFE \ OR, 

cognize themselves and others in all capacities, 
whether present or past. 

Returning unto God, or reuniting with God, 
must be understood as becoming restored to that 
spiritual form of existence in which God exists, 
and in which all vitality is one with God. 

52. The views and ideas of the soul which have 
hitherto prevailed have all been regarded as the* 
ories. Mine will, of course, share the same fate. 

As to the real nature of the soul, I have no rea- 
son to suppose that certainty can be obtained from 
any source whatever. 

All that is taught in the Scriptures on the sub- 
ject I claim to be in accordance with my views, 
as they are here expressed. But there is quite 
another method of obtaining evidence on this sub- 
ject ; one which is taught in the Scriptures as an 
infallible law of evidence. Math., vii. : 16 — " Ye 
shall know them by their fruits." " Even so 
every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. A 
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither 
can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." 

Hence, if the view here advanced become use- 
ful to mankind to an extent surpassing that of any 
other, I shall feel that my views have been as 
nearly established as any others can be on the 
same subject. 

53. But of Aristotle's theory, I claim it has am- 
ply proved itself to be a corrupt tree. The idea 



THE TBUE IDEA OF SOUL. 51 

that the mind is an elementary principle in man, 
and in that capacity the most important part of 
his being, — that it is the basis of his person, 
and the immortal principle of his existence, — 
that it is responsible for all sins, and the victim 
of their penalties, — seems to me a great ab- 
surdity. I regard such views as imparting an 
artificial importance to the mind, and as fostering 
an individualism quite destructive to christian hu- 
mility. Such an idea engenders a morbid mental 
independence and an artificial self-importance 
which are not found to hold good in the affairs of 
life. It blinds us to all relationship with, each 
other, and engenders a selfish, aristocratic mo- 
nopoly of wealth and grandeur at the expense of 
honest labor. It is the parent of that spirit which 
submerges all truth under conventional creeds 
and other assumed authorities. 

It engenders transcendental ideas which delight 
to dwell upon the strange, the unknown, and the 
extravagant. It conjures up the fanciful chimeras 
of a local heaven, a local hell, and a personal 
devil. 

So much for an imaginative exaltation of the 
mind into the great substantial entity of human 
soul. 

The mind, instead of its being an entity of 
equal permanence and stability with the soul, com- 
mences soon after birth, after the soul has vital- 



52 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

ized and organized the exquisite and admirable 
structure of the body, and developed the life-gen- 
erating functions which constitute the great and 
wonderful powers of human existence. 

54. Let us, then, turn away from that unnatural 
and transcendental aspect, whereby the weak in- 
tellect of man has disguised the works of God in 
fictitious paintings. Let us view creation in the 
light of simple truth, and as the result of God's 
spirit operating on matter. 

We may then perceive the biogenic process, 
wherein the vital spirit grasps and controls matter 
and manipulates it into simple cells and a cell-sys- 
tem. 

To the process and primary result of this func- 
tion we give the names nepkcsk, psyche, soul, or 
basis of development. 

Matter is one of the elements of the process ; it 
is in the structure of the result, and must neces- 
sarily be there. 

There is therefore no escape from the conclusion 
that matter is an element of the soul, and that the 
earth is therefore the abiding-place created for 
its home; while spirit finds its natural abiding- 
place only in the spirit state. 

Yerily, I apprehend, the confounding of the im- 
port of the words spirit and soul has led many into 
error. 

55. Matter being one of the elements of the 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 53 

soul, and the soul having been created with facul- 
ties for its own preservation, the utility of the 
great impulses of human nature are clearly proven. 

Those impulses are hunger and the sexual impulse ; 
the former for the purpose of sustaining the pres- 
ent existence, the latter to provide for its renewal. 

When we consider that existence itself is the 
great object, for the preservation of which these 
impulses are made, we comprehend why it is that 
Providence has given them such a powerful con- 
trol over all living things. 

These impulses do actually inspire the principal 
motives of all human action. The motive is ex- 
istence itself, and is the greatest of all motives. 
" For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the 
whole world and lose his own soul ? Or what 
shall a man give in exchange for his own soul ?" 

56. This picture is a great reality. There is no 
feature about it which can possibly be tainted with 
fiction. The great struggle for life is a struggle 
for material to sustain existence, and all the facul- 
ties of human nature are employed for that pur- 
pose. In this effort the impulses exercise the chief 
control ; the senses, and the mind even, do but act 
the part, on most occasions, of passive agents, or 
assistants. God has ordained these impulses just 
as they are, and just as they should be ; and all 
that human laws and customs can do in the man- 



54 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

agement of them is to regulate their influence ac- 
cording to the dictates of justice and reason. 

57. From the preceding premises, the conclu- 
sion becomes inevitable that the local Heaven and 
Hell of theologians have originated from their 
transcendental and conventional ideas of the na- 
ture of man. The real heaven for the soul, spoken 
of in the Scriptures, is therefore a good state of 
society here on the earth, composed of good per- 
sons, freed from the pernicious influences of evil. 
In an elementary figurative sense, the word heaven 
is used to express a favorable extreme of events, 
or the consummation of good. 

Hell is, of course, the opposite extreme of hu- 
man society. In a figurative sense, the word is 
used to express the embodiment of extreme evil, 
degradation, and misery. The soul is the proper 
recipient of the enjoyments and penalties of this 
life. It is the author of transgressions, and the 
victim of the penalties thereof. It is in part flesh 
and blood, and its existence confined to this 
earth, but extending through an infinite series of 
generations. Hence, all the good which the soul 
can enjoy, and all the evil it can endure, are here 
in human society within tne sphere of its numerous 
generations of existence. 

"The children of thy servant shall continue, 
and their seed shall be established before thee." 

That the spirit state is a heaven for spiritual 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 55 

beings cannot be doubted. But the heaven for 
the soul is clearly as stated above. 

The word heaven I regard as conveying a gen- 
eral meaning — that of the superior condition of 
any state of existence. I cannot conceive that the 
word is to be understood in the specific sense of a 
particular place or state of absolute perfection, in 
happiness, knowledge, and enjoyment, unless we 
apply it merely in the sense of spirit-world. 
Heaven is any state of existence regulated by 
God's will and holiness. I infer that pure Chris- 
tianity is to have such an effect upon human beings, 
that evil will cease, and that wisdom, understand- 
ing, and justice are to become the ruling princi- 
ples of human society ; that evil will destroy the 
wicked, and those who love iniquity will have per- 
ished out of the land ; that evil will prove de- 
structive to all who practise it ; that then none 
will be left except those who are regulated by 
truth and justice — those who are good. At that 
period those who exist will have been saved by 
their christian principles, and will have reached 
the heaven of the human soul. The kingdom of 
God will then have come. 

58. To obtain a correct view of the soul is a 
very grave matter to the human family ; an error 
on that subject is one of great consequences. 

The influences of this new idea of the soul will 
be very great, perhaps greater than the mind is 



56 THE LIGHT OP LIFE ; OR, 

able to appreciate; but I confidently believe it 
will be on the side of good — on the side of truth 
and justice, and on the side of wisdom and under- 
standing. In such a state of things as are here 
contemplated, and to such souls as are here de- 
scribed, the day of judgment would be a culmina- 
tion of events — that for good would be a culmina- 
tion of good results. That state of things de- 
scribed as heaven could be brought about only by 
such a culmination. The other extreme, that 
which we term hell, could be brought about only 
by a culmination of evil. 

That this view of man, and of the human soul, 
is really correct, and forms the true key to chris- 
tian philosophy, will appear in the sequel as con- 
sequences, results, and fruits of these great truths. 
These will be developed as rapidly as circum- 
stances will permit, and in a method calculated to 
reach the understanding. 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 57 



CHAPTER IV. 

GOD AND UNITY* 

59. God and his attributes form one of the 
chief topics of the inspired writers. They state, 
for example, that " in the beginning God created 
the heavens and the earth"; that the Lord God 
formed man of the dust of the " ground,' 3 etc. 
By these, and many other similar expressions, they 
attribute wonderful powers to God. 

Moreover, the great works of nature, forming 
the vast laboratory of the Creator, declare, by im- 
plication, the amazing powers and attributes of 
him who fills and rules the universe. The partic- 
ular property of God, however, which is so very 
deeply interesting to man, in connection with the 
subject under consideration, is the declaration that 
« God is a unit." 

1st Cor., viii., 4th: "There is none other God 
but one." 

Yerse 6th — " But to us there is but one God the 
Father, of whom are all things, and we in him." 

Gal., iii., 20th : " But God is one." 

Hence God is a spirit ; he is life ; he fills all 



58 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OR, 

space, and is everywhere present ; and he is one — 
a unit. 

60. No definite idea, explanatory of the "word 
unit, is anywhere to be found in the Scriptures. I 
therefore infer that since science is but a general- 
ization of the laws employed in the construction of 
God's works, we may employ science for the pur- 
pose of defining it. 

By that inference, and by investigations of the 
most careful nature, the fact becomes established, 
that no unit of conceivable magnitude can be 
found, which is not composed of parts. Thus the 
earth, an animal, a rock, a man, etc., are each of 
them units. An insect, a grain of sand, an atom 
of dust, etc., are each of them composed of parts, 
forming a unit. 

The parts of a unit may even possess properties 
which are, in some respects, somewhat unlike. 

But they all agree in the more essential partic- 
ulars — those by which they are all controlled by 
some great law, and are all employed for some one 
great purpose. 

Those properties, by which they are controlled 
and united in purpose, seem to be the chief ele- 
ments of unity. No material item is equal in the 
perfection of its unity to the unity of God ; but, be- 
tween them, there is sufficient similarity to serve 
as illustrations. 

61. In nature, more minute the parts are, the 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL. 59 

more perfect the unity. This is certainly true of 
all material things, and the laws which govern 
material things certainly flow wholly from that 
great fountain whose unity we are laboring to 
comprehend ; the inference is, therefore, truly le- 
gitimate and logical. 

The amount of evidence available for the sup- 
port of this conclusion is very great ; it is limited, 
in fact, only by the extent of our knowledge. 
From these considerations, I infer that God, 
though a spirit, is really a unit composed of innu- 
merable parts ; that the parts are the smallest di- 
mensions possible. 

Each part, in all essential particulars, is an 
identity with each other part; that each part is a 
particle, so to speak, of spiritual vitality, possess- 
ing the attributes of deity. 

To continue this figure, it may be inferred that 
in organic life each cell is the creative result of 
one such particle of vital spirit, and that the ag- 
gregate whole forms a unit, wherein each particle 
or cell is influenced by each and every other par- 
ticle or cell, as is witnessed in a mass of burning 
coals. But the unity of God does not supersede, 
overcome, or destroy the distinctness of any indi- 
vidual entity. For example, the bricks in a build- 
ing are not consolidated into one great brick, but 
each one is as distinct as ever ; each is a distinct 



60 



entity, united to all the others by a common princi- 
ple. 

That principle is unity, but not consolidation. 

62. The unity of God having been fairly con- 
templated, it may be inferred that the human 
family, when sufficiently restored from the influences 
of iniquity, will form a similar unity. 

The unity which forms the strength and perfec- 
tion of God may naturally be regarded as likely to 
improve the condition of man. It is by the unity 
of parts, such as members, limbs, organs, and mem- 
branes, that individual powers are established. 

The powers, faculties, senses, passions, emotions, 
and sensibilities common to our race, being all 
united in one person, add greatly to his abilities 
for good or for evil. 

Moreover, unity is the chief fountain of all hu- 
man blessings, and includes our principal chris- 
tian duties to God and man. 

For it is said in the Scriptures, " Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." And 
" thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Unity 
among men is practical love and brotherly kind- 
ness, and is in accordance with the spirit of Chris- 
tianity. 

Loving God and our neighbors constitutes a 
unity with them of an important nature, but it 



THE TEUE IDEA OF SOUL. 61 

does not interfere with the individuality of our 
persons. 

63. The effect of unity among men is known 
to be one of the greatest blessings : it is purely 
good without alloy, the proof resting on actual ex- 
perience and practice. 

Hence all men act upon the principle with the 
utmost confidence. 

They unite themselves into political organiza- 
tions of towns, counties, and states ; into literary 
institutions for the purposes of investigating and 
teaching the great principles of truth, reason and 
religion, — as is witnessed in schools and churches ; 
into commercial companies, such as trades-unions, 
shipping-companies, banks, insurances, etc., and 
into numerous companies for manufacturing. 

In short, all the great and efficient power of hu- 
man beings, for any purpose whatever, consists of 
uniting individuals together for its execution. 

Confidence in the principle is very great ; so much 
so, indeed, that no sooner does any great under- 
taking present itself, than the idea of uniting for 
its execution at once becomes suggested. Hence 
the raising of armies for repelling invasions, and 
for suppressing insurrections and rebellions. And 
hence the motto, "united we stand, divided we 
fall." In fact, unity among the members of the 
human family is one of the great and valuable 
prizes of existence. 



62 THE LIGHT OP LIFE; OR, 

Without some degree of unity, society and even 
human existence would cease. Heat, light, and 
unity bear such a relation to human life, that it 
cannot continue without them. Human life will 
always become curtailed as they are diminished be- 
low a proper standard, and proportionally ad- 
vanced as they are perfect and abundant. 

64. Man, from his very helpless condition when 
alone, unaided by others, is constantly reminded 
of the great benefits to himself as an individual, 
and to others in like condition, of that mutual re- 
ciprocity which gives and receives the helping 
hand of fellowship. From his nature, and the na- 
ture of things around him, every man perceives 
that unity is strength and prosperity, while divi- 
sion and discord are weakness and destruction. 

An individual person is but the fragment of a 
system of things, and cannot long subsist by him- 
self alone. Every man is closely related to every 
other man, each has descended from the same 
great Creator, brought into life by the same means, 
fed and clothed by the same materials, feels and 
experiences the same pleasures and pains, and dies 
and returns alike to mother earth. 

Of each individual, old and young, male and 
female, it may be said that he or she constitutes 
but another example of myself, modified by the 
different functions of the sexes, by the accumu- 
lated results of hereditary descent, entailing great 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 



63 



differences of abilities and disabilities, by educa- 
tion and habits taken in their broadest acceptance, 
and by the endless train of surrounding circumstan- 
ces and conditions. 

The vital spirit which animates every man, that 
which constitues the essence of his being and ren- 
ders him a living soul, is the same under all these 
circumstances. 

Why do men differ ? Why do they entertain a 
spirit of envy, malice, hatred, and revenge towards 
each other ? 

Indeed, why do they allow such a spirit to take 
full possession of their faculties, and thereby ar- 
ray themselves in mortal combat against each 
other ? Why do they carry that spirit to such a 
degree of hatred as to rob, murder, and destroy 
each other to their utmost ability, and without the 
least sympathy or remorse ? 

65. These are important questions, and I have 
great reason to infer that they have never been 
answered thoroughly, — that is, so thoroughly as to 
be clearly understood even by the intelligent and 
thinking portions of mankind — so thoroughly as to 
be comprehended in full and in toto. 

The answers to such inquiries have uniformly 
been composed of that common play of words 
which skims over the surface of things, and leaves 
nothing disturbed at the bottom. But the 
answers which christian communities have agreed 



64 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OB, 

upon contain the outlines and more essential 
elements of the truth ; viz., that evil of some 
sort, linked into the thoughts and actions of our 
race, constitute the principle upon which men be- 
come hardened to the execution of such horrible 
deeds. 

That it is evil associated in some way with the 
thoughts and actions of men, is sufficient to answer 
my purposes here. 

And why is it that evil takes such an effect on 
the human race ? 

It is because evil destroys the unity among them 
which would render them more or less as one in- 
dividual. 

Evil divides men in their ideas, makes them 
enemies to each other, and thereby induces them 
to rob, murder, and destroy each other. 

66. This fact having been clearly considered, 
it becomes essential that a clear idea of the nature 
of evil, and the natural distinction between good 
and evil, be properly noticed. My speaking of 
the distinction between good and evil in this way 
is, because I have reason to infer that much of the 
prevailing ideas on that subject have had rather a 
conventional origin, than otherwise. For example, 
to teach that a certain act is wicked, sinful, or dis- 
pleasing to God, is but half-way teaching. It con- 
veys no definite idea to a large portion of an au- 
dience, because they have no conception of the re- 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL., 65 

lationship existing between God, ourselves, and 
our fellow-creatures, and therefore no conception 
of the effects of evil — that which is usually termed 
the punishment — on the human family. 

67. In natural things many items of the same 
thing appear different. Take water for an exam- 
ple. In many places the water thereof appears 
and tastes very differently. But the difference does 
not belong to the water, for pure water is every- 
where the same. It forms but one item of creation, 
and is capable of endless commingling without a 
change in its nature, except from its impurities. 

Now, the great cell-system of human existence, 
that which seems to constitute the soul (see Sec- 
tion 42), is clearly a similar element or item of 
creation, flowing onward through time and events, 
as a great river flows through space. Among the 
principles observed in fluids many may be used to 
illustrate the properties of the soul. As, for in- 
stance, an impression made upon a part of a vessel 
of water is equally imparted to the whole mass. 
An impurity communicated to a part is soon dif- 
fused through the whole. An abstraction of a part 
is a diminution of the whole. 

What is common to any part is common to the 
whole ; for all the parts form but one whole, and 
all commingle together. 

68. The unity alluded to, that which conforms 
to the laws of the Creator, is not consolidation : it 



66 THE LIGHT OP LIFE; OB, 

is not such a uniting of things as to consolidate 
a great number of items into one larger item ; it is 
not that commingling of many things into one 
thing ; it is not that unity which destroys the in- 
dividuality of its members; but it is that unity 
which renders each member an assistant to all the 
others. 

It is that same unity which God employed when 
he created man, and by which he united many 
limbs, members, and organs so as to form a man. 
The same unity by which our forefathers united 
many States into one nation, while each was left 
to make its own internal laws and regulations. 

It is that unity which unites individuals into a 
great army, for the purpose of acting together, as 
each other's assistants, in the execution of a great 
object. 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL, 67 



CHAPTER V. 

GOOD AND E VIL. 

G9. Since evil constitutes the chief obstacle to 
the consummation of human happiness, it becomes 
an important matter that the monster be distinctly 
marked, and thereby easily recognized at sight, so 
that wolves in sheep's clothing may not escape re- 
cognition. 

For anything to be good, it must possess the 
quality of usefulness, that of yielding some bene- 
ficial result. 

I may therefore assert, that to be good is to be 
useful — that is, useful to the human soul. For, in 
all languages, allusions to good or evil imply that 
the soul be the recipient thereof. 

God requires of man that he should possess 
that quality which is called good ; otherwise, he 
would not possess that quality equally with other 
things. 

We owe it to ourselves and to the whole human 
race, to be good and to do good, for it is from good 
of some sort that all our enjoyments are derived, 
and without enjoyment life would cease. We also 



68 THE LIGHT OP LIFE ; OR, 

owe it to God, because we owe it to man. " Inas- 
much as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 

The true recipient of good is the human soul. 
That is the elementary idea. 

70. To draw an accurate line of demarcation 
between good and evil seems not to be so easy a 
matter as might at first be inferred. Taking a 
comprehensive view of the sentiments of society on 
the subject, and of the apparently mature views of 
the learned, seems not to impart all the confidence 
which is desirable. 

This, however, is not very difficult to account 
for, when it is remembered that the prevalent ideas 
of the soul have been based on fancy, instead of 
Scripture and reason ; and that the chief leading 
features of human sentiment have been mainly 
transcendental, arbitrary, and conventional. That 
certain men have taught thus and so, seems to have 
settled all discussion without an effort to reach a 
basis of legitimate reasoning on the subject where- 
with to test such matters. The views of ordinary 
men on this subject seem to have been regarded as 
standing in the same category with the decisions 
of law, viz., that only a rare few possess the abil- 
ity to discuss them at all. But since Aristotle's 
theory ot the soul lias been fairly exposed, I am 
hoping to see the sentiments of good and evil 
placed on the basis of Scripture and reason, where 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 69 

they must ultimately coincide with truth and 
Christianity. 

In the state of things resting on Aristotle's the- 
ory, when all interpretation of existing events 
rests solely on the fancy of theologians, intelli- 
gence and reason have usually been placed in a po- 
sition of subordination to sacred fiction. Not only 
so, but impudence and assurance have been the 
ruling elements of society, the experience of our 
senses being regarded as low and vulgar in com- 
parison with fanciful ideas, which are falsely 
claimed to be spiritual. 

71. The mental idea of good is that of doing 
justice to all and every creature; that of doing 
right under all circumstances; that of strict com- 
pliance with the dictates of the golden rule of the 
Gospel. 

The principle applies to every act of life — those 
of our business-dealings, and those of deportment 
and conversation with our fellow-creatures. 

It consists not only in doing right, but also in 
sustaining the cause of good under all circum- 
stances, and in maintaining the truth on all sub- 
jects, and on all occasions. 

No act, deed, or thing can be regarded as being 
partly good and partly evil. Each one is either 
wholly good, or wholly evil — its tendency is one 
way or the other. 

72. Evil is the reverse of good ; all that op- 



70 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

poses, counteracts, or retards good, partakes of 
evil. God is the efficient cause of all activity and 
of all results ; for there is no other active agent in 
the universe. An evil result is an effect of God's 
activity, which has met with an interrupting influ- 
ence before reaching the end designed for good. 
Hence, evil is not an active agent, but a mere in- 
cidental interruption of a proper action. Evil is 
therefore a counteracting influence. To illustrate 
this, we assume that a seed is planted, sprouts, and 
grows for a while, but deficiency of moisture, or 
of heat, or nutriment, retards its growth, or even 
destroys it. That which retards or destroys is the 
evil. Such I take to be the nature of evil. 

If a man acts improperly, the cause is some de- 
fect in the man, physical or mental, or both. His 
acting intentionally does not alter the principle, 
that the act is the result of a defect. All evil is 
therefore the result of imperfection. 

The greater the imperfection, the greater the 
liability to do or to meet with evil. 

I have stated that there can be but one spirit, 
in the sense of a substantive living entity, in ex- 
istence (4, 8). 

The organic operations of that spirit upon mat- 
ter, when undisturbed by any opposing influences, 
produce that charming and beautiful range of or- 
ganic phenomena usually termed physiological, or 
healthy. 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 71 

Such is the origin of all the beauties of the veg- 
etable and animal kingdoms. 

In man it produces health, manliness, and vigor 
of body ; dignity, firmness, and harmony of mind, 
undisturbed by the influences of worldly trifles. 
That healthy action and peaceful harmony of mind 
are among the blessings of life. 

73. But in all organic operations impediments 
and derangements are liable to occur. 

Among vegetables, animals, and human beings, 
circumstances occur which disturb the process of 
organic action— the being which has commenced 
life in apparent harmony and beauty languishes, 
pines away, and dies. 

In the former operation, where no disturbing in- 
fluence interrupts the operation of vital spirit, the 
process is attributed to the good spirit — or, in 
other words, the spirit of God. 

But in the latter an evil genius has interfered 
— the wicked, bad, or evil spirit has done the 
mischief. Hence, 

" There shall no evil happen to the just, but the 
wicked shall be filled with mischief." 

" Blessings are upon the head of the just, but 
violence covereth the mouth of the wicked." 

In man a large portion of these disturbing influ- 
ences arise from errors, or from imperfections and 
defects. Those influences, whether good or bad, 
arise from impressions on the cell-system, which 



72 THE LIGHT OP LIFE ; OR, 

are carried along, as that system progresses, until 
a result is attained. Hence, 

" The just man's children are blessed after him," 
while the " Sins of parents descend to the third 
and fourth generation," through the medium of the 
cell-system. 

The vital cells of the system become polluted, so 
as to retain a portion of that pollution from gen- 
eration to generation. 

74. This principle places the accountability of 
evil where it belongs, or in the efficient cause, 
which is often different from the actor. 

The driver who drives his horse over and kills 
B is accountable for B's death. The horse is not 
accountable. 

The nation whose army invades and murders is 
responsible, not the army. 

If A defrauds B, so that B's family suffers and 
dies for want of the property which A has taken 
by fraud, then A is guilty of the death of B's family. 

The Government which monopolizes lands given 
to the people by their Creator is accountable for 
all the suffering and misery which that monopoly 
has caused. 

He who does an evil out of ignorance is guilty 
of the evil of neglecting to inform himself ; the 
ignorance does not lesson the evil nor the account- 
ability. 

In the complications of society it is often very 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 73 

difficult to determine who is the real author of 
some evils ; for they who are the guilty parties 
often profess, and even seem to be innocent; and 
indeed believe themselves to be so. 

There is a limit to all influences, and where the 
influence of good terminates, there it fails, and 
there evil begins. 

Hence, evil done to myself, however secretly, is 
still an evil, and produces unpleasant results on 
the human race, on myself individually, or, in 
most instances, on both. Bodily I am but a cell- 
system, the internal powers, faculties, and propen- 
sities of which, and the form, dimensions, and 
arrangement of which, are quite independent of 
the me within ; independent of that which I regard 
as myself. The cell-system of my own person is 
independent of me ; it works out all of its func- 
tions and processes without consulting my wishes. 
I received it from my parents, and in turn impart 
it to my offspring. If I were to impart an injury 
to it in any way, such injury would be heaped 
upon my own soul, and would afflict my offspring 
in future generations. I have no right to injure 
it. Such an act would be like poisoning the water 
which passes through my own spring to that of my 
neighbor. 



74 THE LIGHT OE LIFE; OB, 



CHAPTER YL 

PRACTICAL REMARKS. 

75. Psychology, or the doctrine of the soul, is 
one of the most radical trains of ideas within the 
sphere of human conception, and forms the basis of 
all our ideas and estimations of ourselves. 

That which we conceive to be the nature of the 
soul is the very standard of measure whereby we 
become accustomed to reckon the nature and 
sacredness of man. Hence the reason why this 
subject should receive the most searching exami- 
nation. 

If we adopt an artificial view of the soul, we 
make that view the basis of all our ideas of our- 
selves, and of the nature of man. We also con- 
strue the sacred scriptures in a manner to coincide 
with such views. 

76. The serious objection to Aristotle's theory 
of the soul is, that it is wholly artificial ; by which 
expression I mean to be understood that it rests 
wholly upon a false and fanciful view of the mind, 
rather than on a natural view of those vital pro- 
cesses whereby mind, like light, is developed. 

I regard the living spirit as the fountain of the 
soul, as well as of mind and body ; but there is this 
difference : the soul is the immediate result of the 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL. 75 

spirit's operation on matter, while mind and body- 
are the result of the soul's development, and there- 
fore only secondary descendants from the spirit. 
The soul is therefore more radical than either 
mind or body ; hence, to assume that the mind is 
the soul, is to adopt an artificial idea of the soul's 
nature, and to commence the great calculus of 
human existence on a false, artificial, and inferior 
basis, which, like other false commencements, must 
lead to very erroneous results. The intelligence 
of soul and mind are very different. 

The soul's intelligence is that of the spirit with- 
in the soul ; while that of mind is derived from 
the spirit through the medium of the senses. At 
death the mental intelligence is exalted into that 
of spirit, by the removal of that medium. See 51. 

But the great point here aimed at is, that an 
artificial idea of the soul leads directly to arti- 
ficial ideas of the nature of man, and being of so 
radical a nature it forms a disturbing element in 
all our calculations on the subject of man. Hence, 
before we can determine the real nature of man, 
wc must learn to distinguish between his artificial 
nature, wrought up to some imaginary standard by 
error and ignorance ; and his real internal radical 
nature, educated in the true principles of truth 
and justice. This latter is Christianity. If I 
have a wrong idea of myself, it is not safe for me 



76 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

to take myself for a standard with which to meas- 
ure and estimate others. 

77. The artificial ideas concerning ourselves, 
which the theory in question imparts to our minds, 
forms an important feature of education. It is one of 
the chief causes of the idea that the mind is the 
man — an idea which is true only in a very limited 
sense. The entire structure of the body, its growth, 
its form, and its functions, arc independent of the 
mind ; while, on the contrary, the mind is largely, 
if not entirely, under the control of the bodily 
functions. It is upon the basis of that theory that 
the mind is regarded as a sort of God-like entity. 
It assumes that the mind is a great and wonderful 
soul — an invisible, powerful spirit, immortal and 
glorious. It regards the mind as an entity, quite 
independent of the body, and that without such 
an independent mental existence -no future or spir- 
itual state is possible. Thus we have theory upon 
theory — one theory invented to support another, 
and all resting upon the grossest ignorance of 
what God is continually teaching us. 

78. Estimating ourselves upon so artificial a basis 
induces us to reject all natural things and natural 
processes, as low, vulgar, and insignificant. Habit 
and self-esteem gliding us onward in such a chan- 
nel, we soon become wafted into an unconscious 
individualism, which seems to imply that such a 
great mind derived directly from God can have 



THE TRUE IDEAL OP SOUL. 77 

no real relationship with other men. Persons be- 
ing merely minds, derived from God, no real rela- 
tionship exists between the child and its parents ; 
the child is only another similar person or mind 
(14 to 23). In this way the train of ideas flowing 
from that theory soon drowns all correct ideas of 
the great brotherhood of man. 

Hence, with self artificially promoted, natural 
processes rejected, the brotherhood of man aban- 
doned, natural relationship smothered, all ideas of 
justice towards our fellow-man become perverted 
and lost. All idea of justice being lost, the demon 
of evil has full sway, just as we discover it in the 
practical affairs of life. 

79. But of the cell-system there is nothing artifi- 
cial or in the least unnatural, either in its physiol- 
ogy or in the logical inferences which I have drawn 
therefrom. The position which it occupies in ani- 
mated nature, and the great radical function which 
it performs, are just what we most reasonably at- 
tribute to the soul. 

Moreover, the study of the laws which regulate 
the functions of the cell-system is clearly and 
surely that study which leads us to the most radi- 
cal and certain of all the principles which bless 
and adorn the existence of man. The simple and 
natural ideas of the soul herein derived from the 
cell-system are but natural implications flowing 
from the word and the works of the great Jehovah. 



78 THE LIGHT OP LIFE; OR, 

They form a system of Psychology eminently chris- 
tian in all its tendencies. 

The ideas of the soul herein advanced serve as 
rays of light, by the aid of which man may see 
himself just as he is — a creature of natural ele- 
ments flowing from natural causes, operating in 
conformity with natural laws. 

80. The premises alluded to (§ 3) having been 
briefly discussed, and my views thereon, as I believe, 
intelligibly expressed, I now proceed to throw out a 
few intimations and suggestions in relation to the 
manner in which the promises and invitations there 
noticed should be understood. 

In so doing, I do not propose any lengthy dis- 
quisition, nor any entanglement in the sectarian 
fancies of our age — but the practical affairs of 
daily experience. 

" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." « He that follow- 
eth me shall not walk in darkness." 

" Incline your ear and come unto me ; hear, and 
your soul shall live." 

" I am the light of the world ; he that followcth 
me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the 
light of life." 
& Ci In him was life, and the life was the light of 
men." 

The Scriptures abound with expressions similar 
to "the above, and many others of similar import. 



THE TRUE IDEAL OF SOUL. 79 

The word " light" as used here, undoubtedly 
conveys the idea of information, knowledge, science, 
wisdom and understanding. 

The phrase a light of life" implies that know- 
ledge and understanding which may be obtained 
from studying the truly wonderful operations of 
life, including both the organic and mental phe- 
nomena. 

81. Hence, Anatomy and Physiology, taken in 
their broadest acceptation, and including all that 
is witnessed in the vegetable and animal depart- 
ments of creation, form a part of the studies from 
which we are to reap instruction. All mental intelli- 
gence, even of the highest order, may be regarded 
as pertaining to the light of life ; for mental intel- 
ligence — that which belongs to human beings here 
in the body — takes its rise from that development 
of vital spirit upon matter which we regard as 
life. 

The phrase, " labor and are heavy leaden" may be 
understood as implying the whole burthen of trou- 
bles and afflictions which transgression has brought 
upon the human race. 

The phrases, " come unto me," " follow me," 
etc., together with many others of similar import, 
are to be understood as invitations to adopt and 
practise the laws and principles taught by the 
Saviour. 



80 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

"The words that I speak unto you, they are 
spirit and they are life." 

82. » Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all ' 
thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
mind." 

The Greek word here rendered, " thou, shalt 
love" may with equal propriety be translated, thou 
shalt entertain, thou shalt welcome, or thou shalt seek. 

Take any of these imports, however, as the true 
import of this verse, and show me, if possible, 
what can illustrate the significance and import- 
ance of the " first and great commandment," more 
than the view of God, and of the soul, entertained 
in this essay. No other idea of God, and of the 
manner of creating the soul, will be found to com- 
port so naturally with the interpretation of God's 
great works (including his word). It is not prob- 
able that any one can comply with this command 
unless he entertains a theory of some kind. If so, 
then the nearer that theory be to truth, the better. 
Perhaps I may say, the nearer it is to physiological 
truth, the more certain it is to be moral truth. 

83. And the second is like unto it : " Thou shalt 
love thy neighbor as thyself." That is, thou shalt 
entertain, welcome, seek, or love thy neighbor as 
thyself. In order to comply with this second com- 
mandment, a person must comprehend to some de- 
gree the intimate relationship of the whole human 
family to God and to each other. Can any view 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 81 

of that relationship do more towards enlightening 
us therein than that which forms the topic of this 
work ? Many expressions in the Scriptures convey 
an implication that intelligence is essen tial to the 
fulfilment of this commandment. " He that loveth 
his brother abideth in the light, and there is no 
occasion for stumbling in him." "For he that 
loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can 
he love God whom he hath not seen ? ? ' 

We are commanded to worship God — to wor- 
ship him in spirit and in truth. Falling upon one's 
knees, speaking, groaning, gesticulating, etc., does 
not constitute worship. For the spirit and the truth 
may not exist in the actor. To worship is to pos- 
sess feelings of great respect, reverence and ven- 
eration towards the being worshipped. But what 
feelings can a man possess towards a being whom 
he can neither see nor feel, nor form any idea of? 
He must possess an idea of the being before he can 
worship him. Can any idea of God be advanced 
which comports more perfectly with the Scriptures 
and the works of creation than those here promul- 
gated ? 

84. That the soul possesses a material element 
as one of its constituents, I claim to have estab- 
lished with a degree of certainty equal to that of 
the reality of its existence. 

The development and continuance of the soul 
depends on a vital process, which does not take 



82 THE LIGHT OF LIFE; OR, 

depends on a vital process, which does not take 
place without a material element to act upon. 

It must, therefore, be connected with a material 
basis, from which a supply of such material may 
be furnished. 

In our present state of existence, the earth 
which we inhabit necessarily constitutes such a 
basis ; and God himself has placed us thereon and 
in connection therewith. 

These are unavoidable conclusions drawn from 
the Scriptures, and the facts involved ; they also 
show how perfectly, in creation, every feature, 
faculty, and impulse of the soul was adapted to 
proper ends, to be brought about by proper means. 

" The Lord will not suffer the soul of the right- 
eous to famish." -/ 

" The righteous eateth to the satisfaction of his 
soul." 

85. The impulse of the soul for the supply of a 
material element, manifested by the sensation of 
hunger, is created for that very purpose, and ac- 
complishes that very end. The entity, the impulse, 
the function, the purpose, and the result are all 
connected together, as the links of a chain, or the 
items of a unity. 

The most sacred of all earthly things to the 
human soul, outside of itself, is that which sus- 
tains and supports it, viz., the soil, and the fruits 
thereof. To obt&mfood requires cultivation of the 



THE TRUE IDEA OP SOUL. 83 

soil, and that operation requires tools, power, 
places for deposit, and machinery. These, in turn, 
require means ox: property, and the latter, accumu- 
lated, becomes capital. Hence, food, property, and 
capital are material necessaries for the welfare and 
existence of the soul. 

86. That these inferences are correct, cannot 
well be disputed ; for God created the soul just 
as it now exists, with all its wants and necessities. 

He also created the earth in a suitable condition 
for supplying those wants and necessities. 

Lastly, and as a crowning point, in reference to 
this matter, God placed the soul upon the earth, 
as a recipient of its fruits. And, as if to add 
sanctity to the act, " God said, Behold, I have 
given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon 
the face of the earth, and every tree in the which 
is the fruit of a tree yielding seed ; to you it shall 
be for meat. " 

Herein we perceive the adaptation of the things 
which God has created — the earth to the soul, and 
the soul to the earth — the soul to enjoy, and the 
soil, as property, to be enjoyed. . Hence it is 
providential and correct, that the soul should pos- 
sess a material element; that the soul should have 
an impulse, created for the purpose of seeking that 
material; that the fountain which yields such ma- 
terial should constitute property ; and that the soul 
should crave* to possess it. The face of the earth 



84 

— that which we call the soil — is the basis of all 
property. God created it for that very purpose. 
God created each for the other — " the man to till 
the ground," and the ground for the purpose of 
human culture, in order that the human soul might 
reap therefrom the sustenance which it required. 

87. Justice among men is, therefore, a principle 
of the most sacred nature. It is very easily viola- 
ted, and its violation may occur hundreds of times 
every day, and often in a private manner. Hence 
it easily becomes a habit, subject to various changes 
and modification, but rarely changing from injust- 
ice towards justice. Usually the violation of just- 
ice goes on increasing in a certain channel, until 
that particular species of injustice becomes quite 
outrageous and intolerable to society, when some 
serious disturbance occurs therefrom, which arouses 
the attention of a community, and a remedy is es- 
tablished, or pretended to be, and some reforma- 
tion is brought about for a season. 

But injustice is always actively prevailing in 
some form or another, usually by secret means, and 
often in plain view, and but slightly screened from 
public observation, but under some plausible pre- 
text or excuse. 

88. Injustice is a crime which may take place 
in every degree of criminality, from that of the 
most trivial, as the stealing of a cent, to that of 
wholesale robbery and murder. In some one or 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 85 

more of its forms, it is always prevailing, and 
thereby becoming fashionable, habitual, and dis- 
regarded. The artificial Christianity of our age 
has but rarely presented any barrier to its univer- 
sal prevalence; but rather, in many instances, 
ranged up in unison with it, and resorted to its 
convenient strategy and sophistry. 

All our public ideas of justice rest on the flimsy 
foundation of what is alleged to be custom and 
precedent. And what are they ? Why, the prac- 
tices and customs of half-civilized and barbar- 
ous nations, with whom might usually took the 
place of right; wealth, the place of honor, dig- 
nity, and power ; plausibility and hypocrisy, the 
place of honesty and piety. 

The only natural foundation of justice, which 
can be practically established in society, is a cor- 
rect knowledge of ourselves and our dependence 
on the mutual fidelity of each other ; a correct 
knowledge of the relationship which we bear to 
each other and to the Creator ; and a correct 
knowledge of our dependence on the order and 
arrangement of society. In the midst of society, 
offences and disturbances will occur, and must be 
settled by public authority. 

89. In all human affairs, the development of 
soul seems to wear deep implications of having 
been designed for the purpose of performing a 
struggle. 



86 THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; OB, 

One of the chief temporary objects of tha 
struggle seems to be property ; for it is rendered 
necessary for self-protection, and it is an import- 
ant material of war through the continuous bat- 
tlings of human life. 

It is an important item in the greatest of all 
wars, and the only one which is coexistent with 
life — -that of struggling to vanquish the monster 
Want from its annoying proximity to man. 

Labor and toil are therefore the destiny of man. 
From that destiny there is no escape. The at- 
tempt does but add vengeance to the decree ; 
while cheerful compliance converts to the side of 
pleasure that which at first view seemed a task. 

90. To gratify the impulses — that of seeking the 
means to sustain the soul and the means to repro- 
duce it, constitute the promptings to labor. 

Intelligence and understanding in regard there- 
to imparts cheerfulness, and even happiness, under 
all the destinies of life. 

Let us, therefore, in imitation of the Saviour, 
seek to improve our race by instructing them in 
all things that will advance them in the path of 
intellectual elevation. 

In this way, it is believed that Christianity may 
be cultivated and diffused into the heart and in- 
tellect of men* until it shall have become the rul- 
ing element of society. 

To illustrate the practical influence of the doc- 



THE TRUE IDEA OF SOUL. 87 

trines here advanced, is the chief object of these 
few remarks. They might be extended to almost 
any length, even to the including of every senti- 
ment uttered in the Scriptures, and to the illustra- 
tion of every known truth ever conceived by human 
intellect, and this theory of God and the soul will 
be found to coincide with the christian aspect 
thereof. 



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THE LIGHT OF LIFE ; 



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The true light, thatlighteth every man." 

In him was life, and the life was the light of men." 

I am the light of the world : he that followeth me 

Shall not walk in darkness, but shall have 

The light of life." 



BY 



N . S . SAXTON, M. D 

GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN, L. I. 



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